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Playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, "The two most beautiful things in the world are the Taj Mahal and Dolores del Rio." High praise indeed! The thing is....Dolores wanted to be more than just a pretty face...
1904 - 1983
IMDb: Dolores del Rio - IMDb
María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete de Martinez del Rio was born in Durango, Mexico to a very wealthy family - one of the richest in the country. Her father was the director of the Bank of Durango, and their lineage went back to Spanish nobility. One of Dolores' cousins? The jaw-dropping Ramon Novarro, of course! During the Mexican Revolution, Dolores' family lost all of their assets and decided to escape before being encountered by Pancho Villa. Dolores and her mother were disguised as peasants and went to live in Mexico City for a time. There, she decided to become a dancer.
At age 15, Dolores married a millionaire (literally) named Jaime Martinez del Rio, and for two years afterwards they traveled throughout Europe together. Dolores even danced for the king of Spain!. Now THAT'S an exciting honeymoon, folks! When the couple returned to Mexico, the cotton market (where Jaime had invested a lot of his money) fell, and they lost a fortune because of it. Dolores and Jaime had to rely on financial support from their families, living in Mexico City.
A year later, a good friend of the couple came to visit, named Adolfo Best Maguard. He brought with him a prominent film director friend of his, named Edwin Carewe (from First National Pictures). Edwin took one look at the lovely Dolores and made an offer to her husband. Women had little say-so back then, you know... Anyway! Edwin sold Jaime on the idea of making Dolores into "the female Valentino". Jaime saw this as a way to get back on track financially - and also to realize his dream of being a Hollywood screenwriter. In spite of both families' disapproval, Dolores went under contract with Edwin in 1925 and the couple was officially off to Hollywood.
Dolores and co-star Victor McLaglen in "What Price Glory?" (1926)
Dolores' first film was "Joanna" (1925), under her newly shortened name, "Dolores Del Rio". She got no more than 5 minutes of screen time, and sadly the film is now lost. Several other small roles followed, which helped the del Rio's finances, and Dolores got her first starring role in "Pals First" (1926), which is also lost. In the same year, Dolores was chosen as a Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers (WAMPAS) Baby Star. This was a title given by the association to up-and-coming actresses whom they considered to have "star qualities". Dolores was on a roll, but (much like Rudolph Valentino) she was cast as every ethnicity BUT her own! She once said:
"I'd love to appear in fine, emotional dramas...and am eager to play in stories concerning my native people, the Mexican race. ...The vast majority seem to regard Mexicans as a race of bandits or laborers, dirty, unkempt and uneducated. My ambition is to show the best that's in my nation."
Dolores herself was overwhelmed and confused at the hubbub of Hollywood during her early career, and the del Rio's marriage became quite unhappy. Jaime became jealous of the attention his wife was receiving, and moved to New York. In 1928 they divorced, but remained friends. That same year, Jaime was hospitalized for blood poisoning and a tumor was discovered on his brain. He passed away soon after.
As if that wasn't enough for Dolores to handle, Edwin was also harassing her nonstop - as he was determined to be her new husband! He even went so far as to prepare a divorce from his wife and start rumors in the press of his "romance" with Dolores! Grow up, Edwin... In 1929, Dolores cleared the air around the Edwin situation, saying to the press:
"Mr. Carewe and I are just friends and companions in the art of the cinema. I will not marry Mr. Carewe."
She cancelled her contract with him soon after, which infuriated him to the point of filing a lawsuit against her. Dolores (now with United Artists) and Edwin reached a settlement out of court, but did that stop him from trying to ruin her career? OF COURSE NOT. He tried unsuccessfully to replace her with a new actress (Lupe Velez) - even remaking one of her films, but Dolores had already made a name for herself, and had made powerful friends such as Mary Pickford, which meant that anything Edwin did to outshine her was laughable at best. *Again* Grow up, Edwin...
Co-starring with Joel McCrea in the scandalous "Bird of Paradise" (1932)
The transition to sound was smooth for Dolores. She made her radio debut alongside Mary Pickford and her hubby Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith, Gloria Swanson and Charlie Chaplin in 1928, and the public discovered she had not only a lovely speaking voice, but a beautiful singing voice as well! In 1930, still mourning the loss of Jaime, Dolores remarried, this time to a prominent MGM art director named Cedric Gibbons - but sadly, she fell ill with a severe kidney infection soon after. Her contract with United Artists ended, and she was out of commission for 2 years.
With boyfriend Orson Welles (1941)
In 1932, Dolores regained her health and signed with RKO Pictures. Several more successful sound films followed, and she caught the attention of Jack Warner, who hired her for two films with Warner Brothers. All seemed to be going well for Dolores, but in the late 1930's her career began to decline, and she was listed in Hollywood trade papers as "box office poison" along with other film greats such as Mae West, Joan Crawford and Katharine Hepburn. This cruel example of bullying came from an independent theater owner, who felt it was his great duty to share which actresses weren't bringing him the big bucks anymore - because when all else fails, blame the woman. Dolores and Cedric were divorced in 1940, largely because of a dashing young filmmaker named Orson Welles...
In 1943, Dolores decided to return to Mexico, where she had more creative control of her work, could mourn the recent death of her father - and also try to forget about her (now former) cheating boyfriend, Orson. She said:
"I wish to choose my own stories, my own director, and camera man. I can accomplish this better in Mexico."
Dolores in 1961
In 1960, Dolores co-founded the Society for the Protection of the Artistic Treasures of Mexico, which protected buildings, paintings and other works of art. In 1970, Dolores and several other prominent Mexican actresses formed "Rosa Mexicano", a union that provided child care for the members of the Mexican Actors' Guild. She remained president until her death. Today it still remains, with a new name - "The Dolores del Rio Day Nursery".
Guest starring on "Marcus Welby, MD", with Robert Young (1970)
Dolores enjoyed decades of success in Mexican cinema, finally playing the types of roles she always wanted, and even began working again in American films and theatre. Her final film appearance was in "The Children of Sanchez" (1978). That year, she was awarded with a silver plaque by the White House and the Mexican Institute for Cultural Relations, for being a cultural ambassador through her work in cinema.
In 1981, Dolores was diagnosed with hepatitis B after being injected with a dose of contaminated vitamins (!?), and a year later was hospitalized when the hepatitis turned into cirrhosis. She passed away from liver failure in 1983, and her remains were cremated and buried at the Panteon de Dolores in Mexico City. Dolores was survived by her third husband, Lewis Riley.
Although there is no denying that Dolores del Rio was a beautiful woman, it's important to recognize her own words on beauty:
"Take care of your inner beauty, your spiritual beauty, and that will reflect in your face."
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